Kelowna91裸聊视频檚 mayor is nothing if not a champion of this city91裸聊视频檚 burgeoning tech sector.

Whether it91裸聊视频檚 advocating for the construction of an innovation hub for tech start-ups, backing city plans to build the dark fibre network or simply being a presence at tech networking events  like Metabridge, Colin Basran is making efforts to ensure this city isn91裸聊视频檛 missed when it comes to being the next big thing in tech.

He even joined a delegation of Kelowna tech employees on a fact finding mission to up-and-coming tech region, Boulder, Colorado, last year to see if he could glean any information on best practices for industry development.

91裸聊视频淲e are trying to do whatever we can to promote tech in Kelowna,91裸聊视频� Basran said.

91裸聊视频淚t creates jobs for young people in our community, because the people attracted to tech jobs are younger. They91裸聊视频檙e also well paying jobs.91裸聊视频�

And those well-paying jobs have a cascading effect.

91裸聊视频淭ech is attracting well-educated people who are environmentally conscious, socially conscious, donate to charities, and develop social industries,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淭hey want to live where they want to work, ride bikes and eliminate traffic and are promoters of arts and culture.91裸聊视频�

In short, the tech industry and the men and women it employs are the gold standard.

It91裸聊视频檚 not a secret.

The 91裸聊视频渘ext Silicon Valley91裸聊视频� is an oft91裸聊视频� referred to title for which there are many contestants.

Seemingly every city is vying to be the next big tech hub. Orlando, Chicago, Utah and Las Vegas are just a few spots south of the border wrangling for the designation.

Closer to home, there91裸聊视频檚 Vancouver, which has seen some major successes. Social media company HootSuite, which was started by a Vernon-transplant, is most notable in that city91裸聊视频檚 offerings.

But Basran isn91裸聊视频檛 worried about who91裸聊视频檚 doing what, he said. 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 give one single thought to what Vancouver is doing91裸聊视频�we are just trying to grow Kelowna.91裸聊视频�

The trouble is, there is a finite resource that all these places are drawing from the same pool91裸聊视频攕killed employees.

91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 the one ingredient we91裸聊视频檙e missing,91裸聊视频� said Basran.

Corie Griffiths, manager of the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, spoke earlier in the year about that issue, noting that her organization91裸聊视频檚 annual outreach program, Business Walks, highlighted what could be an economic stumbling block if it91裸聊视频檚 not addressed.

91裸聊视频淔or the entire Okanagan, the workforce needed in the next five years is somewhere in between 28,000 and 48,000,91裸聊视频� said Griffiths, citing both the conservative and bullish estimates available to her.

Those figures include both migration data and population growth.

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 a tough thing to overcome, and an issue the province and the coutntry is facing,91裸聊视频� Griffiths said.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a race for human capital throughout the world. One advantage we have is the types of careers available matched with our unparalleled lifestyle.91裸聊视频�

Lifestyle, said Basran, is something that the Okanagan has no shortage of. While the region91裸聊视频檚 often lamented high cost of real estate and low rate of rental vacancies act as a barrier in lower paying industries, Basran said those who are employed in tech may find Kelowna to be the affordable option.

91裸聊视频淲e could attract Vancouver workers who can91裸聊视频檛 afford a $1 million home,91裸聊视频� he said.

91裸聊视频淲e can play on our strengths.91裸聊视频�

Another strength he91裸聊视频檚 been eyeing is the  educational facilities nestled within city borders.

Okanagan College president Jim Hamilton joined Basran on that fact finding trip to Colorado last year. As a result, the college is now looking at tailoring its programs so graduates can fill vacant tech jobs. In particular they91裸聊视频檙e looking at coding and animation.

91裸聊视频淥C is trying to take a proactive role in trying to make all of this grow,91裸聊视频� Hamilton said.

The infrastructure to support industry growth is also falling into place.

The City of Kelowna recently installed approximately 13 kilometres of fibre optic cable to provide high bandwidth data services to a number of city facilities. The fibre optic cable implementation has provided significant operational cost savings, faster data response time and innovative new ways of providing service.

The city also intentionally over-built the network to include extra optic fibre to accommodate future city needs and be available for lease to businesses and institutions that have significant amounts of data to move.

91裸聊视频�(The city) is able to make money and attract businesses, and it91裸聊视频檚 already paying off,91裸聊视频� said Basran.

Cloud storage company Rackforce was the city91裸聊视频檚 first customer on the network in early 2014 and late last year animation company Bardell signed on.

They were attracted to the option to tap into the network, bringing with them 50 full-time positions. They91裸聊视频檙e now slated for expansion.

Also fitting into the puzzle is the Innovation Centre, which should be completed in November.

Accelerate Okanagan, a business support system for tech companies in the startup or growing phases, will move into the building.

Community manager Brea Retzlaff, sees that as a major force in growing the local industry. 91裸聊视频淭here are few places in Canada that have a dedicated Innovation Centre.91裸聊视频�

In addition to providing support to up and comers, she said, it will shine a light on how many tech companies there are here in the region.

91裸聊视频淎 lot of people don91裸聊视频檛 know where these companies are or that they91裸聊视频檙e even here. (Seeing that) will help recruit more talent to the community,91裸聊视频� she said, adding that it could also prompt a well established tech company to create a satellite space in the region.

As is, the industry is already a bigger force than it was anticipated to be even a few years ago.

In a study released last year, Accelerate Okanagan said there were 558 companies, 6,551 employees, 1,920 self-employed workers and innumerable software, applications, data processing, engineering and graphic design, game, website, e-commerce and e-learning ventures.

At that time, they said the Okanagan technology industry added about

$1 billion to the economy annually.

Retzlaff said Accelerate Okanagan is about to launch another study, the results she says are likely to reflect further growth in the local tech industry.

The 91裸聊视频 looked at tech from a variety of angles this week. Here are a few more stories in our Tech Talk package: